"I’m so exhausted. I never have time for myself anymore. But I can’t give up. I’ve got to show them I can get a good story. I know I’m worthy of the spotlight. Why can’t everybody else see it?"
— Millie Andrews
She's Not So Famous
is a Total Drama fanfiction. Set in The '90s, it follows a young Blaineley back when she was still known as Mildred — "Millie" for short. Before she was famous, she was an intern at a local news station looking for her next big break. When she comes across a young Chris McLean — then twelve years old and known as Chris Pike — she follows him to find out where his Boy Band Famestreet is recording, hoping to get some candid photos and prove herself as a paparraza.
Tropes:
- The '90s: The fic is set in 1990, with references to Nikon cameras, online newsgroups, denim fashion, and of course, the North American boy band craze.
- Adaptational Name Change: Downplayed.
- Blaineley goes by Millie in this fic, but this is derived from her canon birth name, Mildred. As the fic is pre-canon, she hasn't changed her name yet. Her surname, Andrews, is taken from her full canon name, Blaineley Stacy Andrews O'Halloran.
- Chris's last name is Pike, though his mother's is McLean-Pike, implying he takes a different parent's surname when he gets older.
- Adaptational Sympathy:
- The actual show never depicts Blaineley as much more than your average self-absorbed diva. This fic shows that while she was egotistical in her younger years, she was also a Beleaguered Assistant working long hours at a news studio for little-to-no pay.
- Instead of being sadistic For the Evulz, this fic establishes that Chris was bullied by the older members of his band, giving him a disdain for teenagers.
- Air-Vent Passageway: Annie and Millie try to sneak onto the Famestreet soundstage by crawling through a vent in the dressing room. However, since Annie apparently does this regularly, the vent above the soundstage is bolted, and they have to drop down into the hallway instead.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Chris is the youngest member of Famestreet, and apparently gets picked on a lot for it.
- Backstory: The fanfiction explores how Blaineley got her start in the entertainment industry while also giving more information on Chris's time as a boy band member.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Millie interns for a news station that doesn't respect her beyond using her for labor, insulting her and even spilling coffee on her.
- Blackmail: Millie enjoys getting dirt on people and using it against them. She gets past security by threatening to tell his boss he was playing games on the job, and threatens to sell unflattering photos of Chris to Star Stalker Magazine unless Famestreet debuts their music video on This Week in Ontario.
- Boy Band: Fametown, Chris's old boy band only mentioned a few times in canon, is a focus of this fic. They're established as a frequently-rebranding band that's quite popular with teenage girls, but despite their friendly personas, they can be quite crass in private.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Chris is very whiny and entitled even as a child, throwing a fit if there's fat in his milk, complaining about zits on his face, insisting he's more talented than everybody else in his band, and mocking Millie when he learns she's just an intern.
- Call-Forward:
- Millie asks Annie, "Who am I? Who are you?" which is what she says to Cody in "Blainerrific" when he doesn't recognize her.
- Chris talks about wanting his own island with a mansion, which he gets by Total Drama All Stars, then setting aside a different island where his bandmates can fight each other, foreshadowing the premise of Total Drama Island.
- Chris gets very particular about his latte, just as he was in the Celebrity Manhunt special.
- Millie mentions Star Stalker Magazine, which is apparently still around in "Haute Camp-ture."
- Camera Fiend: Being a aspiring reporter, Millie carries a Nikon camera with her in hopes of getting saucy celebrity photographs, and uses the photos she takes as blackmail.
- Chekhov's Gun: Annie picks up Chris's hair gel with a plan to keep it for her "Chris shrine." When she climbs back through the vent into the dressing room to get it back, security goes after her, allowing Millie to sneak out.
- Clue, Evidence, and a Smoking Gun: Chris knew his mom was cheating with his manager because of the lipstick marks on his manager's face... and also because his bandmate saw them having sex at an afterparty.
- Elevator Buttons Mash: Millie presses every button on the elevator as part of a plan to find Chris and his mom by listening out for Chris's voice.
- Everyone Knew Already: Millie is excited to get candid photographs of Chris's mother making out with his manager. To her surprise, Chris already knows and has no problem with it, implying the affair is public knowledge to everyone, including his dad."I should feel glad I didn’t have to break the news to this kid, but I do feel less powerful than I did a few minutes ago."
- First-Person Smartass: Millie narrates the fic, giving her jaded thoughts on her budding career and looking down on everybody she meets along the way.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Millie has a talk with the young Chris in his dressing room, then fights him for her camera after she takes unflattering photographs of him. Since she looked different and went by a different name here, and he doesn't hold any ill will towards her in their first canon interactions, it's safe to assume Chris doesn't remember this by the time he's an adult.
- Former Child Star: Chris is in a popular boy band at only twelve years old, giving him an early celebrity complex while enduring bullying from his older bandmates. It's implied this is partly why he becomes such a narcissistic sadist as an adult.
- Groupie: Annie is a teenager currently dating Deacon, a member of Famestreet. She waits for him during rehearsals and hooks up with him in his dressing room (though she breaks out and sometimes visits him on set). However, given Deacon apparently Really Gets Around, he may not see her as earnestly as she sees him.
- Intrepid Reporter: Millie isn't even a reporter (she just runs errands for the news station), but in her quest to prove herself, she stalks Chris and tries to get inside details on his boy band's new music video.
- It Will Never Catch On: The young Chris pitches an idea where he puts all his bandmates on an island and has them fight each other for resources. Mildred says she'd watch it, but thinks to herself that it probably wouldn't work as a franchise. The joke being, of course, that Chris will one day host a reality show where teenagers on an island fight each other for cash and prizes.
- Jerkass Has a Point: As rude as Elizabeth is, she does make sense when chewing out Millie for not doing her job as an assistant properly.
- Kiddie Kid: Chris whines and hides behind his mother despite almost being a teenager. Lampshaded when Millie first notices him throwing a fit about his coffee, saying he "stomps like he’s ten years younger."
- Lipstick Mark: Chris knew his mom was cheating with his manager Rodrick because Rodrick always came to meetings with Nancy's lipstick on his face.
- Must Have Caffeine:
- Elizabeth, the anchor at Channel 9 who has Millie as her assistant, gets "snappy" when she doesn't have hot coffee in the morning, though apparently she's also "just a snappy person."
- Chris apparently drinks coffee at every morning shoot, despite only being twelve.
- Noodle Incident: The reason Chris carries his drinks in a locked thermos is because his bandmates apparently put something gross in his coffee one time. It's not explained what it was.
- "Not So Different" Remark: After Chris vents to her about getting bullied, Millie realizes that they have more in common than she thought. However, when she tells him as much, he laughs off the fact she, an intern, would compare herself to a celebrity."Even though he’s nearly a foot shorter than me and wears more product than I could ever afford, Chris’s story sounds eerily familiar. He has pubescent boys calling him gay, I have a drunk cameraman calling me a fatass pig (hello, bi-weekly cardio, remember?). He has frat boys pouring an energy drink on his hair before faking brotherhood for the teen rags, I have an anchor spilling lukewarm coffee on my new sweater before faking a smile for the camera. And we’re both hiding in this room clinging to what little power we have."
- O.C. Stand-in: Sierra's mother is only described in canon as a fan of Chris, while Chris's mother is only mentioned a couple of times. Both are major players here, though Sierra hasn't been born yet and Annie is only confirmed as Sierra's mother via the character tags.
- Original Character: Chris and Blaineley are the only characters who appeared onscreen in canon. Chris's mother and Sierra's mother were only ever mentioned, and the other members of Fametown were only seen on a poster in an exclusive video, while every other character (Rodrick the manager, the unnamed security guards, Elizabeth the news anchor, and Mr. Vitelli the producer) was made up in this fic.
- Really Gets Around: Deacon apparently has multiple groupies he keeps in the dressing room, despite Annie claiming to be his girlfriend.
- Rise of Zitboy: Chris freaks out in his dressing room because he doesn't think his makeup is covering up his zit and worries the other boys will make fun of him. His mom snarks that they'll make fun of him no matter what.
- Sherlock Scan: Millie makes observations about strangers' personal lives just by observing slight details in their face and clothing.So to fill the void in this less-than-fabulous life, I people-watch. It makes me feel better about myself when I see other people suffering just as much as I am. Like that middle-aged woman chowing down her donut. Those split ends, those exhausted eye bags… she’s probably a working mother, savoring every second of her lunch break before she has to go back to the noise. And then there’s Mr. Big Shot over there, casually stretching his calves while he waits for his egg wrap. You know he’s probably freezing in those shorts, but I’m not gonna complain. His jogging is clearly paying off.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Millie is convinced that, despite being an intern whose job mainly consists of coffee runs, she was born to be a star anchor, even blowing off her job to impulsively stalk a young pop star for candid information.
- Stage Mom: Chris's mother Nancy is the driving force behind Chris's career, having told him he was "made for the stage" since he was a child and constantly standing up for him.
- Stalker Shrine: Annie and her mother both adore Chris, and Annie brings back random objects from his dressing room to her mom.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After triumphantly reclaiming her camera from Chris, Millie tries to escape back out through the vent like Annie did... but she lacks Annie's height and upper body strength, so she can't jump up there by herself and gets accosted by security.
- Titled After the Song: The title comes from the last line of Blaineley's "I Am Great!" Song, where Courtney and Heather mockingly sing, "She's not so famous, turns out she's not so famous." This fic is about when she, in fact, wasn't famous yet.
- Troll: Chris is not only aware that his mom is having an affair, he enjoys stoking the flames by "dropping hints" and asking his dad to come home early.
